Friday, August 31, 2012

Carrie Clowers, a junior at Mount Tabor High School, has won the student bookmark art contest sponsored by the Bookmarks Book Festival and Art for Art’s Sake (AFAS).

Clowers’ winning artwork will be printed on 5,000 bookmarks, which will be distributed throughout Winston-Salem and surrounding counties. The bookmarks displaying her artwork will first be shown and distributed at the Bookmarks Book Festival on Saturday, Sept. 8. Clowers will receive an award at the festival’s welcoming ceremony, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

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“The submission by winning artist, Carrie Clowers, captured the emotion and wonders of reading. This young artist has a true gift,” said by Julie Knabb, vice chairwoman and art director for Art For Art’s Sake.

Clowers is the daughter of Anne and Dan Clowers. She has served as president of the Art Club. She is a member of the dance team, the National Art Honor Society, the drama club and she participated in the 2012 YMCA Youth and Government Convention. Clowers’ artwork and photography have been displayed at the Dixie Classic Fair, the Downtown Gallery Hop and published in Cadence, Mount Tabor’s Literary Magazine.

The art contest was open to students in middle and high school during the 2011-2012 school year who live in Forsyth County.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The Saturday/Sunday Aug. 25 & 26 issue of the Kernersville News has four photographs by reporter/photographer Linda Payne that document the people at Triad Upper Cervical Care collecting and filling more than 100 backpacks and donating them to students at Kernersville Elementary School.

You can find the details on Page 8. You can find the Kernersville News online at Kernersville News

In the Tuesday Aug. 28 issue of the Winston-Salem Journal, special correspondent Kathy Norcross Watts writes about Bob Blevins, who was principal at Old Town School (now Old Town Elementary) from 1952 to 1963.

"The school was the center of the community," Blevins told Watts. "We had a lot of community resources."

Blevins turned 95 recently.

Kathleen Smith, who taught first grade at Old Town when Blevins was principal, said, “He was very ahead of his time. He was all for children."

Monday, August 27, 2012

On Friday Aug. 24, Rhonda Fleming, the Director of Transportation for the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system's rode on a jet-powered school bus.

The School Time Jet-Powered Bus, as it is called, was in town as part of the Winston-Salem Air Show. The ride took place at Smith Reynolds Airport.

A group based in Indianapolis called Indy Boys Inc. retrofitted an engine from a Phantom fighter jet onto a school bus. Capable of speeds of 370 mph, it is more like an aircraft. The bus is complete with a 42,000 horsepower engine (regular school bus has 210 horsepower) and burns 150 gallons of fuel in a quarter mile.

It was quite an adventure.

“The bus reached a speed of 270 mph and I was terrified,” Fleming said. “I had to wear a fire-retardant suit that was very hot, shoes, helmet and gloves. I had a 5-point harness strapping me into a metal seat. It is simply against everything in my inner being for a bus to travel that fast. I am not entirely certain what I expected but I now have a deeper understanding and appreciation of G-force. Most roller coasters have a G-force of 4.5-5G. Most roller coaster travel 82-100 mph. This is more like a top fuel-dragster and I now have a deeper appreciation for that sport.

“Once is enough but if it helps to remind the public to watch out for our school buses - it was worth it.”

Friday, August 24, 2012

For Jeanne Larson, the 2012-13 school year will be a short one. On Friday, she will retire after 25 years with the school system.

“Isn’t that wonderful?” she said.

Since 1999, Larson has been the cafeteria manager at Mount Tabor High School. She went to work for the school system in 1987 as a dishwasher at Old Richmond Elementary School.

To finish out her 25 years, she will work the first week of school. Valerie Bolton is the new cafeteria manager at Mount Tabor, and, from Monday through Friday, Larson will work in the cafeteria at Mineral Springs Middle School.

Larson’s daughter Tracey is getting married in October. She plans to help her get ready that. She also wants to travel a bit. After that, she will see.

On Thursday Aug. 23, more than 40 teachers from area schools attended the first Teacher Night at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art.

Educators from Moore Magnet School included Diane Byrd, a speech pathologist, and Anne Collins, the guidance counselor. Laurie Wiesner-Phillips, an art teacher at Wiley Middle School, was there with a friend, Dinah McCotter.

Deborah Randolph, curator of education for SECCA, said, “We wanted to create a special evening just for teachers -- to thank them and welcome them back to school and provide classroom resources for them.”

Activities included exhibit tours, hands-on activities and a performance by the Open Dream Ensemble, a music theater and dance group formed by alumni of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Steven Anderson, the school system’s director of instructional technology, is one of 26 educators named to ASCD’s 2012 Emerging Leaders Class.

“Being recognized as a Leader in the Education field is both an honor and very humbling for me,” Anderson said. “I want to use my experiences as an Emerging Leader to help grow myself and other educational leaders as we strive for excellence for our students. Being an Emerging Leader will give me the opportunity to work with others from around the globe to build my own knowledge and how I can better help others going forward.”

The Emerging Leaders program recognizes and prepares young, promising educators to influence education programs, policy, and practice on both the local and national levels. ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) provides programs, products, and services that empower educators to support the success of each learner.

Emerging leaders are enrolled in the program for two years and may be paired with an ASCD mentor who can provide support and guidance in their professional development. Emerging leaders are invited to attend ASCD's Leader to Leader (L2L) Conference held in late July every year.

The 2012 class of emerging leaders is both professionally and regionally diverse. It includes chemistry specialists and academic-services administrators from as far away as Hong Kong. An advisory panel made up of ASCD staff, leaders, and emerging leader alumni reviewed and selected this year's class.

Founded in 1943, ASCD is an educational leadership organization dedicated to advancing best practices and policies for the success of each learner. Its more than 150,000 members in more than 145 countries include superintendents, supervisors, principals, teachers, professors of education, and school board members.

Monday, August 20, 2012

In the Saturday Aug. 18 issue of the Winston-Salem Journal, reporter Lisa O’Donnell writes about Noryn Alam, a Salem College freshman who has collected school supplies for kindergarten students in the school system.

Larry Sharpe, the program manager of the school system's social work department, told O’Donnell that the need for supplies has increased over the past few years. He likened the school system's challenge to meet the demand for supplies with food bank's challenge to keep their shelves stocked with food.

"The demand is so much more than the supply. You want kids to have what they need to get started in school," Sharpe told O’Donnell. "It's the little barriers that make a big difference."

In the Sunday Aug. 19 issue of the Winston-Salem Journal, reporter Fran Daniel writes about Nelson Jessup’s new career as an energy consultant.

Jessup was an assistant superintendent for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools when he retired in 1996. He is now running his own consulting company, EduCon Inc., which helps school systems reduce energy costs.

“We're allowing those school systems that work with us to have more funds to hire people and keep their employees on board or whatever it is to improve the educational program," Jessup told Daniel. "At the same time, we're doing the right thing for the environment."

Sofia Pauca, an eighth-grader at Hanes Middle School, has been selected as one of 300 national semi-finalists in the Broadcom National Science Fair Competition.

At the 2012 N.C. Science and Engineering Fair, held at Meredith College in March, Sofia was awarded first place in Junior Biological Science B and also received a special Broadcom Masters award. Her project was called “Autism in Flies Year 2: Testing a Medication for Autism - Effects of MPEP on Repetitive Grooming Behaviors of 2 copy and stubby 1 copy Dfmr1 Mutants in Drosophila Melanogaster.”

Sofia said that she was excited by the honor. “I’m really grateful for all the support my parents and teachers and friends have given me,” she said. “When I grow up I want to be a geneticist. I really enjoy helping people.”

She traces the desire to become a geneticist to wanting to help people such as her 7-year-old brother, Victor, who has Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome. He goes to the Children’s Center.

One of the lessons she has learned from him is “Choose to be better not bitter about hard things that come your way.”

Sofia’s mother, Theresa, said, “We’re very proud of her.”

Sofia also has a sister, Francesca, who is a fifth-grader at Brunson. Her father is Paul Pauca.

The 30 national finalists will be announced on Aug. 29. If Sofia become a national finalist, she will be invited to Washington in September. “We are hopeful that she will make it to that level,” Theresa Pauca said.

In the Rural Hall Weekly Independent, contributing writer Leslie Bray Brewer writes about four principals who have moved to a new school.

Angie Choplin has moved from Old Town Elementary to Lewisville Elementary,
Rusty Hall from Rural Hall Elementary to Old Town Elementary, Debbie Hampton
from Lewisville Elementary to Griffith Elementary, and Ingrid Medlock from Hill
Middle to Northwest Middle.

The Thursday Aug. 16 edition of The Chronicle has a story about Alfred Poe, who served as a coach and athletic director at Carver High School for many years.

Next month, he will receive the Pillars of Fame Award from the Housing Authority of High Point. The honor was established in 2006 to inspire young people by showcasing former residents of public housing how went on to become successful leaders and pillars of the community.

After Poe retired from Carver, the gymnasium was named in his honor. He was inducted into the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. The awards ceremony is scheduled for noon on Sept. 19 in High Point.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Brittney Bray, who teaches at Walkertown Elementary; Betty
Jo Moore, who teaches at Wiley Middle; and Kathleen Crook, who teaches at Morgan
Elementary, spent time this summer with golfer Phil Mickelson and his wife, Amy, at the 2012 Mickelson
ExxonMobil Teachers
Academy.

They also spent time with Truman Bell, ExxonMobil’s senior
program manager for education and diversity. The academy was held at Liberty
Science Center
in Jersey City, N.J., from July 22 to 27. The goal of the academy
was to help teachers engage students in math and science at an early age in
hopes of retaining their interest in these subjects through college and
into their careers.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

On a trip to Ecuador
this summer, Peggy Cunningham, who teaches second-grade at Hall-Woodward Elementary
School, traveled the country, spending time with
people living in fishing villages and high in the mountains.

“It was just an amazing trip,” Cunningham said.

One thing she came to appreciate about the people she met is
that, even though many of them have very little when it comes to material
possessions, they seem content with their lives and have strong family
connections.

“They do everything together,” she said.

Cunningham was one of 46 North Carolina educators who participated in
one of the N. C. Museum of Natural Sciences’ Educators of Excellence Institutes
this summer. She joined a group of 10 that was in Ecuador from June 18 to 26 as part
of a collaboration between the museum and Heifer International.

“This was science and human nature,” Cunningham said. “It
was more about the people and how we can help each other.”

As a bonus, she even got to see whales. She is looking forward to talking about her experiences with
students and colleagues and showing them photographs after school starts.

On Aug. 8, principals Susan Frye of Piney Grove Elementary, Becky Carter of Kernersville Elementary, Dossie Poteat of East Forsyth Middle and Sharon Porter of Kernersville Middle shared a meal at Fritz on Main in support of Eating for Education, a Kernersville Chamber of Commerce program that provides grants for local teachers.

David Fitzpatrick, a retired principal, owns Fritz on Main.

If you pick up the Aug. 11 & 12 Weekend Edition of the Kernersville News, you will find a photograph of Carter supporting Eating for Education gracing the front page.

The next Eating for Education day is scheduled for Sept. 12. On that day, more than 20 restaurants will be offering specials and donating a portion of their proceeds to the program. During the 2011-12 school year, the program raised about $17,000, enabling the chamber to award 34 $500 grants.

Monday, August 13, 2012

In the Monday Aug. 13 Winston-Salem Journal, reporter Lisa O'Donnell writes about the Educator Warehouse where teachers can go to pick up supplies for
students who cannot afford to buy them. They can also pick up such things as books for a classroom library and materials
to make a bulletin board appealing. The warehouse is housed in a pod on the campus of Diggs-Latham Elementary School.

To donate or volunteer, get in touch with Chandler at kchandler3@msn.com or (336) 817-1673. The
warehouse is incorporated as a nonprofit organization, and checks can be made
out to Educator Warehouse and sent to Educator Warehouse, P.O. Box 141, Winston-Salem,
NC 27102.

The free event will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. at SECCA at 750 Marguerite Drive. The event is open to teachers and
educators from the region.
SECCA is an affiliate of the N.C. Museum of Art, within the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

The purpose of Teacher Night is to welcome teachers back to school and provide classroom resources for their school year.

Please RSVP by Aug. 21 by calling Kristin Bell at 397.2109 or e-mail at info@secca.org. Include your name, e-mail and a contact number where you can be reached.

Deborah Randolph, SECCA’s new curator of education, says,
"SECCA is offering teachers an
evening at the museum designed just for them. This evening gives us an
opportunity to thank teachers for all they do for the students in our
community. Please come and bring your friends."

The evening will be set up in a
series of nine stations located throughout the art center. The stations
are offering the following sessions:

North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) Big Picture Project:

In the library, staff from this project will present their online concept mapping for teachers.

Open Dream Ensemble:

Music theater and dance alumni from
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) will present
their new play developed for school presentations and discuss will
teachers the connections between the play and
classroom learning. The playwright is a member of the cast and will be
available to talk to teachers.

Literature Tour:

SECCA’s Curator of Education Deborah Randolph will conduct a tour of the
paperless exhibit and connect the artworks to literature.

Curator's Tour:

Steven Matijcio, SECCA’s curator of contemporary art and curator of the
paperless, will conduct a tour of this award-winning
exhibition. This tour will give the teachers and the general public a
curator's insight into the exhibit.

Classroom Resources:

Materials connecting contemporary art with art and non-art content will be located throughout the galleries.

Literature Readings:

Actors will float through the museum presenting readings from literature represented in the paperless exhibit.

Hands-On Activities:

Teachers will have the opportunity to create works of art and bring these ideas back to the classroom.

Community Resources:

Other organizations will have their education resources available for teachers.

Tour and Upcoming Exhibitions:

Information about upcoming
exhibitions for the next school year will be available. Teachers will
have the opportunity to schedule their field trips to SECCA.

Friday, August 3, 2012

As part
of the BELL Summer program, a number of students participated in the "Dare To Be
King" and "Dare to Be Queen" curriculum at Wiley Middle
School. This is a relatively new curriculum for middle school students that,
as BELL puts it, want to put an emphasis on "gender-specific academic self-image.”

Thursday, August 2, 2012

In the Thursday Aug. 2 issue of the Winston-Salem Journal, special correspondent Kathy Norcross Watts writes about a luncheon that the Alpha and Omega Church/Family Institute sponsored in conjunction with the school system's Amazing Summer Escape Challenge. Adults took students back in time by sharing their memories of such people as Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Treyaun Fulton, a 2012 graduate of Parkland
High School, recently returned from China.

Fulton received the trip to China as part
of the Dean Prim Scholarship, which comes with $1,500 a year for four years. Fulton,
who is going to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
plans to double major in pharmacy and business.

Futlon won other scholarships as well. He was one of 1,000
students nationwide chosen as Gates Millennium Scholars for the Class of 2012 and
he also received the Crumley Roberts Chairman's Scholarship, which came with
$1,000 and an iPad.

About Me

We're here to share good news about people associated with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, to answer questions and to let you share your thoughts about how to make the schools better. If you have something that you would like for others to know about or want to ask a question, please send an email to Kim Underwood